title: Reduced cognitive control of a visually bistable image in schizophrenia.
abstract: Schizophrenia is associated with the inability to control and coordinate thoughts, actions, and perceptions. In conventional assessments of cognitive control, multiple sensory features of stimuli are concomitantly manipulated, introducing a confounding role of bottom-up perceptual information. To overcome this difficulty, we used an ambiguous visual stimulus (Necker cube), which allowed measurement of cognitive control with constant sensory input. Subjects (20 patients, 20 controls) were asked to control their perception of a transparent Necker cube by keeping a designated plane at the front or back of the stimulus, the position of which is perceptually bistable. Patients were highly deficient at controlling their perception of the cube. When a visual feature (the luminance contrast between a designated cube plane and the other planes) was systematically manipulated, an interaction was found whereby schizophrenia patients no longer under-performed on the highest contrast condition. These results show patients' impairment of controlling perception in the absence of visual modulation and suggest the potential utility of perceptually based approaches to cognitive remediation in schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: 1Mailman Research Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McBain
authors.affiliation: 2Department of Psychology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Norton
authors.affiliation: 3Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jejoong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: 1Mailman Research Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000150:complications; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*